AMACOM Smarts Are We Hardwired for Success

8/4/2019 AMACOM Smarts Are We Hardwired for Success

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SMARTS

Are We Hardwired

for Success?

CHUCK MARTIN

PEG DAWSON, ED.D.

RICHARD GUARE, Ph.D.

A M E R I C A N M A N A G E M E N T A S S O C I A T I O N

N e w Y o r k A t l a n t a B r u s s e l s C h i c a g o M e x i c o C i t yS a n F r a n c i s c o S h a n g h a i T o k y o T o r o n t o W a s h i n g t o n , D . C .


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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataMartin, Chuck, 1949

Smarts : are we hardwired for success? / Chuck Martin Peg Dawson, Richard Guare.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-10 0-8144-0906-7

ISBN-13: 978-0-8144-0906-0

1. Executive abilityTesting. I. Dawson, Peg. II. Guare, Richard. III. Title.

HD38.2.M3675 2007658.409dc22

2006029750

2007 Chuck Martin, Peg Dawson, Richard Guare.

All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America.

This publication may not be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system,

or transmitted in whole or in part,

in any form or by any means, electronic,

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Printing number10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1


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To Teri, my wife, and Ryan and Chase,

my sons, for the understanding, space,

and total support you constantly pro-

vide.

Chuck Martin

To Steven, who thinks all his Executive

Skills are perfectand I love him

anyway!

Peg Dawson

To my wife, Megan, and my children,

Colin and Shannon, for their never-

ending patience and willingness to lend

their frontal lobes when mine go

missing.

Richard Guare


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CONTENTS

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Matching Strengths to the Situation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

The Executive Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

The Benefits of Understanding Executive Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Frontal Lobes and Executive Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Railroad Accident and Frontal Lobes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Executive Skills vs. Personality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

How to Use This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Using What You Have . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

CHAPTER 1. TAKING INVENTORY WITH THE EXECUTIVE SKILLS PROFILE . . . . . . . . . . 1 5

Skill 1: Self-Restraint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Skill 2: Working Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Skill 3: Emotion Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Skill 4: Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20


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Skill 5: Task Initiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Skill 6: Planning/Prioritization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Skill 7: Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Skill 8: Time Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Skill 9: Defining and Achieving Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Skill 10: Flexibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Skill 11: Observation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Skill 12: Stress Tolerance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Your Unique Set of Executive Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

CHAPTER 2. COMBINATIONS OF EXECUTIVE SKILLS AND THE EFFORTFUL TASK . . . . . 30

What Your Strengths Look Like . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Task Effort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Dont Save the Hardest for Last . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Typical Combinations of Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Common Opposites of Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Situations That Play to Certain Combinations of Executive Skills . . . . 50

Working Against Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

CHAPTER 3. LEARNING TO PLAY TO YOUR STRENGTHS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Executive Skills Capacity: Trapped by Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Goodness of Fit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Ranking Executive Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Task Skills Required Compared to Your Executive Skills . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Assessing Project Team Fit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Assessing Management Team Fit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

When Strengths Meet Strengths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66


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CON T E N T S / ix

When Strengths Meet Weaknesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Executive Skills and Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Interviewing for the Perfect Fit Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Executive Skills at Home or Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

External Influences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

CHAPTER 4. DEALING WITH YOUR WEAKNESSES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Not Living a Lie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Characteristics of Your Weaknesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Dont Count on Negative Feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

The True Failure to Communicate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Be the First to Highlight Your Weakness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

A Short List for Shortcomings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Change Behaviors: Improving Enough to Get By . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Change the Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Complement Your Weakness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

You ARE the Coach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING EXECUTIVE SKILLS IN OTHERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Deciding What to Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses in Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Behavioral and Environmental Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Solutions for Specific Executive Skills Weaknesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Under the Gun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

CHAPTER 6. MATCHING TASKS TO PEOPLES EXECUTIVE SKILLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

How Well Jobs Match . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Finding the Right Match . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146


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Job Skills Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Task Skills vs. Executive Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Interview Questions to Find Strongest Executive Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

The Case of the Over-Learned Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

And Then the Job Changed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

CHAPTER 7. ALIGNING YOUR SKILLS TO WHAT IS VALUED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

What Business Leaders Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Task Skills Most Valued Compared to Your Executive Skills . . . . . . . . 172

Long-Term Goodness of Fit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Matching Values to Your Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

The Halo Effect: Look More Valuable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Executive Skills Alignment as a Career Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Outsourcing Your Weaknesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

CHAPTER 8. REACHING AND DEALING WITH COGNITIVE BANDWIDTH . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Exceeding Cognitive Bandwidth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Stress at Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

E-Mail Overload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Working Too Many Hours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Identifying Outside Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Dealing with Outside Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

The Final Frontier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

APPENDIX A. ABOUT NFI RESEARCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

APPENDIX B. EXECUTIVE SKILLS ASSESSMENTS AND QUESTIONNAIRES . . . . . . . . . . 201

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217


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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

There are many people we want to acknowledge and thank for their

assistance along the way to the final completion of this book.

We want to thank the members of NFI Research, the 2,000 seniorexecutives and managers around the globe who answer our bimonthly

surveys and take their precious time to convey to us their thoughts on

the leading business and workplace issues of the day. We especially want

to thank the VIP members, those who go above and beyond and provide

us with even more feedback and guidance.

A sincere thank you to those executives and managers who reviewed

the first draft manuscript and provided insightful feedback and sugges-tions on the content. Thanks for this effort go to Fred Becker, Al Blazek,

Ken Myers, Ed Pease, Dave Schmidgall, Tim Smith, Robert Wyatt, Peter

Eder, John Ogrizovich, Michel Beaulieu, Youri Lamoureux, Jim Moore,

David Aschenbach, Carolyn Dickson, John Jarvis, Bill McBride, Terry

Sullivan, and Brad Stephen.

Although many people have contributed to the refinement of the

thinking in this book, we are especially grateful for the many hours of

discussion and insights about the application of these ideas to the busi-

ness world to Dr. Derek Stern, Janet Eastman, and Barry Nelson; and to

Eleanor Guare, who deserves a special thanks for providing her experi-

ence and expertise to help validate many of our strategies.

We want to acknowledge Kevin Grady and Kyle Sevits, research di-

rectors of NFI Research, for conducting the worldwide surveys for thebook, and NFI Research marketing and publicity directors Jeff Blake


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xi i / A C K N OW L E DGMEN T S

and Jamie Adams, for checking the manuscript and helping spread the

word of our findings.

We are especially grateful to Jacquie Flynn, our editor at AMACOM,

who not only immediately grasped the concepts of the book and helped

us shape it, but also now practices the concepts in her day-to-day work.

All direct quotes in the book are based on interviews personally con-

ducted by author Chuck Martin. Thank you to all those executives and

managers who took the time to share their thinking.


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SMARTS


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Introduction

YO U M AY CO NS IDE R YO URSE L F to be an organized person, or a

procrastinator, or sometimes forgetful. Maybe you see yourself as some-

one who can get things done, or is highly flexible, cool under pressure,

or good at managing your time. Although you might be accurate in

some of your self-assessment, there has been no way to precisely define

each of these attributes, or to show their relationship to each other.

These are actually brain functions or cognitive skills that neuroscien-

tists have located in specific regions of the brainprimarily the frontal

lobes. These functions develop starting at birth and they are hardwired

into every individual. Brain researchers have found that these skills are

fully developed by the time you become an adult.These skills are called Executive Skills because they help you execute


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2 / SM AR T S

tasks. Executive Skills help you make decisions about what information

you should focus onboth whats worth dealing with and what should

be ignoredand they help independently manage your own behavior.They temper and adjust your emotions, help you review and modify

your actions, and fine-tune your response as you move from one issue

or activity to the next.

You can clearly and easily identify your strongest and weakest Execu-

tive Skills to enable you to play to those strengths while minimizing

weaknesses. Your strongest Executive Skills will continue to be your

strongest and your weakest will continue to be your weakest, because

they are not dramatically changeable by the time you become an adult.

The opportunity is in how you deal with them, and this book provides

a framework for you to do that. You will learn why youand those

around youact or behave the way you do. We provide strategies, ap-

proaches, and tactics to use these functions effectively.

Although researchers have different ways of labeling, defining, andorganizing Executive Skills, our model encompasses twelve separate Ex-

ecutive Skills that are most relevant to the way people function in a

work environment.

Despite the term Executive Skills, whose use in neuropsychology

dates back decades, there is no connection to executives at work. Execu-

tive Skills should not be confused with skills of executives, since Exec-

utive Skills are, in fact, how the frontal lobes and associated brain areasmanage information and behavior.

Each of you has a set of strongest and weakest Executive Skills in

your own makeup. Generally, you have two or three that are strongest

and two or three that are weakest. Those in the middle are not likely to

get you in trouble, though they cannot be dramatically improved either.

Everyone has this personal combination of Executive Skills strengths

and weaknesses, and they vary from person to person. Once you recog-nize and understand these skills, you can leverage them to get yourself

into situations to use the strongest ones, while avoiding or minimizing

those that are weakest.

Matching Strengths to the Situation

Using knowledge of your Executive Skills strengths, you can identifyjobs that can play to those strengths. By identifying your key weaknesses,


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I N T R O DUC T I O N / 3

you also can avoid situations that are likely to result in failure. Everyone

has seen or experienced this in one form or another:

An extremely successful person gets what looks like a logical

promotion and then ultimately fails in the new job.

A friend regularly says the first thing that pops into his mind,

often causing awkward foot-in-mouth moments.

A person who was miserable and failing at a job in one company

leaves and becomes wildly successful at another.

A manager is constantly dissatisfied that an employee cannot

seem to complete a task that seems so easy to the manager.

A company names five of its smartest people to develop a new

product, and it never gets off the ground.

In each case, there was a mismatch between the person and the skillsthe situation required. More critically, each outcome could have been

predicted. A persons set of Executive Skills helps determine why people

succeed and fail. In some situations, people excel because their Executive

Skills strengths are a perfect fit to the task or situation. In others, they

fail because they are anything but a perfect fit.

The basis for determining a persons strengths and weaknesses in

Executive Skills is well grounded in neuropsychology and revolvesaround these fixed functions associated with the frontal lobes. Psycholo-

gists have been using knowledge of the development of these functions

from childhood through adolescence to provide guidelines for assess-

ment and assistance to children and teens. However, until now no one

has taken this knowledge to the next level: helping adults use knowledge

about these fixed skills for work and life. That is what we attempt to do

with Smarts.

Since the strengths or weaknesses of these skills cannot be changed

in a major way, there is a great opportunity for you or anyone else to

tap into those that are strongest in all aspects of work. By leveraging

the strongest parts of your Executive Skills, you can continually create

situations where you and the task at hand achieve a more perfect fit.

Throughout the book, we attempt to be as specific as possible regardinghow Executive Skills strengths can map to specific tasks.


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Once you determine your own set of Executive Skills, you can bench-

mark those against any given task, situation, or even a job, which might

explain why you are succeeding or failing, and what the future may

hold. You also can identify these strengths and weaknesses in others,

allowing you to fit better, manage better, build more effective teams,

and better match people to the right jobs.

The Executive SkillsWe have identified twelve brain-based Executive Skills that are devel-

oped by young adulthood and are critical for decision making and regu-

lation of behavior. They are:

1. Self-Restraint: The ability to think before you act. It is the ability

to resist the urge to say or do something to allow time to evaluate the

situation and how a behavior might affect it.

2. Working Memory: The ability to hold information in memory

while performing complex tasks. It involves drawing on past learning or

experience to apply to the situation at hand or to project into the future.

3. Emotion Control: The ability to manage emotions in order to

achieve goals, complete tasks, or control and direct behavior.

4. Focus: The capacity to maintain attention to a situation or task in

spite of distractibility, fatigue, or boredom.

5. Task Initiation: The ability to begin projects or tasks without

undue procrastination.

6. Planning and Prioritization: The capacity to develop a road map

to arrive at a destination or goal, and knowing which are the most im-

portant signposts along the way.

7. Organization: The ability to arrange or place according to a

system.

8. Time Management: The capacity to estimate how much time one

has, to allocate it effectively, and to stay within time limits and dead-lines. It involves a sense that time is important.


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9. Defining and Achieving Goals: The capacity to have a goal, follow

through to the completion of the goal, and not be put off or distracted

by competing interests along the way.

10. Flexibility: The ability to revise plans in the face of obstacles,

setbacks, new information, or mistakes. It relates to adaptability to

changing conditions.

11. Observation: The capacity to stand back and take a birds-eye view

of yourself in a situation and to be able to understand and make changesin the ways that you solve problems.

12. Stress Tolerance: The ability to thrive in stressful situations and

to cope with uncertainty, change, and performance demands.

The Benefits of Understanding Executive SkillsThe effects of understanding Executive Skill strengths and weaknesses

are enormous for individuals and for entire organizations. Aligning your

strengths with the jobs, tasks, or teams that best use those strengths

presents a winning combination. When an organization does this as a

matter of course, there are number of positive benefits across the com-

pany:

Productivity: The right matches increase the chances of tasks being

accomplished faster. With the right person in the right job, that job can

be managed with less effort. This results in less time being spent on

activities, freeing people to increase their personal output. The proper

mix of people in the right jobs also means more deadlines being met,

since the people are, in effect, better able to complete the tasks at hand.

Quality: Matching the right people to the right jobs increases the

likelihood that there will be fewer errors, since the tasks being per-

formed are inherently natural for those individual.

Employee Recruitment: Getting the right people in the right job will

be easier because the Executive Skills profile of the job can be matched

against potential candidates for the job. Matching a persons strengthsto the strengths required for a job can assure a better fit.


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Employee Retention: Employees and managers doing tasks that best

match their skills are happier and less likely to look for a job elsewhere.

If this is done on a wide scale, there is likely to be less tension in the

workplace as well, with people actually looking forward to doing their

jobs.

Training: By knowing that a persons Executive Skills strengths and

weaknesses cannot be dramatically changed, we can focus training more

on enabling people to learn how to identify and leverage their strengths

and work around their weaknesses. Even better, training will not bewasted on unsuccessfully trying to improve a persons greatest weak-

nesses through training classes.

Teamwork: Members of teams at all levels can be properly matched

with each other, assuring a more effective work process, better results,

and less conflict along the way.

Competitive Edge: Correctly matching people and jobs provides an

organization with at least a short-term competitive advantage. Although

much of the matching activities can be duplicated, it would require a

detailed analysis of most employees and a reengineering of a number of

people-related processes to catch up to a business that started early.

However, an organization only has to go through this process one time,

and it can be over a period of time to reduce disruption of the business.But the business that starts first has the advantage.

Stress: With people better matched to their jobs, the toll on individ-

uals performing inherently difficult day-to-day activities will be reduced.

Meetings: The right people at the right meetings will increase effi-

ciency and more accurately predict meeting outcomes. Having the

proper combination of Executive Skills strengths at a meeting will assurethat the results will be the correct results and also ones that are realisti-

cally achievable. With the right people with the right Executive Skills

responsible, more meetings will start and end on time.

Execution: When an organization has people playing to their Execu-

tive Skills strengths, the ideas or strategies will be developed by the right

people in combination with the right people who can keep tabs on whatcan be done within a reasonable time frame.


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Information Management: With the right people in the right jobs,

information flow will be more efficient because people will be dealing

with only what is most relevant for their particular role in the organiza-

tion. When people know their strengths, they can align the information

flow to support those strengths, ignoring much of the rest.

Frontal Lobes and Executive Skills

The brain is a complex organ, and both neuropsychologists and writersfor the popular press have attempted to paint a simplified picturea

line drawing, if you willto help the public understand how it works

and what part of the brain performs what function. Books have been

written, for example, about left-brain and right-brain functions, with

language being the skill most commonly attributed to the left brain,

and emotions and spatial concepts being the domains most commonly

attributed to the right brain. In fact, it is more complex than that (the

tone of voice with which someone speaks, for instance, is interpreted

by the right hemisphere of the brain, while the words themselves are

interpreted by the left hemisphere).

More broadly, there are portions of the brain responsible for percep-

tion, memory, language, and movement. But for an individual to do

anything with all that information requires the activation of the frontallobes. The frontal lobes of the brainthe portion of the brain just be-

hind the foreheadare responsible for reasoning and decision making.

In terms of brain functioning, the frontal lobes and particularly the

prefrontal cortex are almost unique in their ability to receive signals

from all other brain regions, thus enabling them to factor in previous

experiences and prior knowledge, current biological states, and incom-

ing information from the external world. It is for this reason that the

frontal lobes are sometimes called the central executive. And Executive

Skills are the mechanisms by which humans sift through massive

amounts of information in order to reason and make decisions.

The development of Executive Skills parallels the development of the

brain. When a baby is born, the brain weighs about 13 ounces. By late

adolescence, brain weight has increased to just under 3 pounds. Al-though all areas of the brain are growing, neuroscientists generally agree


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8 / SM AR T S

that the frontal brain systems, among the last to develop in late adoles-

cence, play a preeminent role in Executive Skills.

Railroad Accident and Frontal Lobes

It was September 13, 1848 when Phineas Gage, the foreman of a railway

construction crew, was working to prepare the bed for the Rutland and

Burlington Railroad near Cavendish, Vermont. A freakish accidental ex-

plosion blew a tamping iron through his head. The tamping iron wasnearly four feet long and weighed more than 13 pounds. It went in

under Gages left cheekbone and completely out through the top of his

head, landing about 25 yards away. Though Gage was knocked over, he

reportedly remained conscious, though most of the front part of the left

side of his brain was destroyed. Gage survived and after hospitalization

returned to his home in Lebanon, New Hampshire, ten weeks after the

accident.The next year, Gage felt strong enough to go back to work. However,

how he functioned had changed so profoundly that his employers

wouldnt give him his management job back. Formerly well-balanced

and considered one of the companys most capable and efficient fore-

men, Gage had become fitful, irreverent, and grossly profane, showing

little deference for his fellow workers. Formerly considered a smart busi-

nessman, Gage had become vacillating, unable to settle on any of theplans he devised for future action.

Gage never worked as a foreman again and ended up working in a

livery stable of the Dartmouth Inn in Hanover, New Hampshire. In

about 1859, Gage went to San Francisco to live with his mother and

died in 1860, a dozen years after the accident.

In 1867, Gages body was exhumed and his skull and the tamping

iron were sent to what ultimately became the Warren Museum of the

Medical School of Harvard University, where they were studied exten-

sively.

In 1994, using x-rays and computer graphics, researchers determined

the probable path of the flying rod through Gages head. From the anal-

ysis, it became clear that the rod had damaged Gages frontal lobes.

The findings provided an explanation for the transformation of Gagesbehavior because the effects in Gage were not unique: Other people with


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frontal lobe damage had exhibited personality changes that resembled

Gages.

Other patients with frontal lobe damage, either brought on by trau-

matic injury or disease, were able, like Gage, to remember facts and

perform complicated calculations. But when it came to keeping com-

mitments, being trustworthy, holding a job, or succeeding in marriage,

they failed miserably. They couldnt plan for the future, and they

couldnt see how their behavior affected their own lives or the lives of

others. They were lacking the brain functions that are Executive Skills.Although specific skills associated with the frontal lobes have long

been described in scientific literature, the usage of the term Executive

Function, or Executive Skills, is more recent, dating back to the 1980s.

However, in spite of its relatively young age, the term is now commonly

recognized in the neuroscientific literature and associated with frontal

lobe activity.

Executive Skills vs. PersonalityTheres an entire industry devoted to helping people understand how

different personality styles affect how they function in the workplace

and in life in general. There have been numerous books written to help

identify personality traits and strengths. Historically, the Myers-Briggs

Type Indicator is probably the most widely used assessment instrument

for determining personality. This approach, derived from a theory of

personality type developed by Carl Jung, a student of Freud, is based on

the notion that an individuals personality comprises four dimensions.

These dimensions relate to:

1. How you are energized (introversion versus extraversion)

2. What kind of information you attend to (concrete stimuli versus

intuition)

3. How you make decisions (using thoughts versus using feelings)

4. How you organize your world (order and structure versus flexi-

bility and spontaneity)

Although there is some overlap between the Personality Type model

and the Executive Skills model outlined in this book, there are somecritical differences:


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10 / SM AR T S

Executive Skills are grounded in brain functions that have been

demonstrated through research in the neurosciences to reside in specific

brain locations and to become activated under predictable conditions.

There is no such brain research to substantiate Psychological Type.

Executive Skills map neatly onto the kinds of tasks, functions, and

roles that people are expected to perform in the workplacewhether

they are working on the lowest rung of the corporate ladder or have

climbed all the way to the top.

This book focuses on Executive Skills rather than on other dimen-

sions of brain functioning because it is this region of the brain that

determines what you concentrate on, how you judge information, how

you make decisions, and how well you execute those decisions.

By understanding your own specific set of Executive Skill strengths

and weaknesses, you will be able to find greater job satisfaction, no

matter at what level you work or in what capacity you are employed. Webelieve an understanding of Executive Skills will enable you to improve

performance in concrete and measurable ways that will help both you

and the organization for which you work achieve greater success and

better meet long-term goals.

How to Use This BookWe have written this book for you, the businessperson. It doesnt matter

what business, profession, or industry youre in. Executive Skills cut

across them all because these skills are all hardwired into your brain. It

doesnt matter whether your company is large or small, or whether you

work independently. What matters are the many relationships sur-

rounding Executive Skills. There are the relationships among the skills

themselves, with your strongest sometimes appearing to be at odds with

your weakest skill. There are the relationships between your Executive

Skills and those of the people around you. There are the relationships

between the Executive Skills of the manager and those of the employee,

which can be in harmony or in conflict. And although we do not dwell

on it in any detail, there are the relationships between your Executive

Skills and those of your friends and family. As you will see, ExecutiveSkills are with you all the time, whether at home or at work, on vacation,


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or raising or dealing with children. But Smarts is primarily designed to

help you make the most of your Executive Skills in your world of work.

Because there are employees as well as managers of employees, we

have included information in two specific chapters to show how to man-

age Executive Skills in others. However, whether you are the manager or

the person being managed, you first should learn of your own personal

Executive Skills strengths and weaknesses. The book is organized in a

fashion to do that.

Chapter 1 describes in detail each of the 12 Executive Skills and in-cludes the Executive Skills Profile self-assessment for you to identify

your strongest and weakest skills. (The sixty questions are also listed in

Appendix B in the back of the book, if you want to answer all the ques-

tions at one time.) It is essential that you clearly identify these skills

before moving on to the rest of the book for several reasons. Because

only your two or three strongest and weakest skills really matter, for

much of the remainder of the book you can pay more attention whenwe discuss your specific strengths and weaknesses. However, dont to-

tally ignore the skills that dont pertain to you, because you will see

them displayed in people all around you.

We have found that once people become familiar with the 12 Execu-

tive Skills, they start to look at things in a whole new light. If you are an

employee, you will start to notice the specific strengths of your superiors

and those around you. Even more significantly, peoples weaknesses willjump out at you as you begin to link their behaviors and actions back

to specific Executive Skills, which eventually becomes second nature.

For example, when someone is extremely testy under pressure and un-

able or unwilling to change course, youll find yourself muttering to

yourself: Ah yes, low in Flexibility. Or, when a certain vice president

is running a meeting, you know theres no point in showing up early

because his weakness is Time Management.

It will be like this with all twelve skills. The more you become famil-

iar with Executive Skills the more easily you will spot both the strengths

and weaknesses of others. It also might tend to make you more accom-

modating, when you know that the weakness is hardwired into the peo-

ple and that it is not their fault they are behaving the way they are. Even

more interesting is that you will have the solution for how to change oradapt to that situation.


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12 / SM AR T S

People who have become familiar with our work in Executive Skills

have told us that they now understand why a former boss or colleague

seemed to act totally irrationally in certain situations. Weve heard from

managers who now understand why someone working for them in the

past didnt work out. They now realize they were lacking the specific

Executive Skills needed at the time.

Once youve read this book, you will have an advantage over anyone

you deal with at work who does not have the same understanding of

Executive Skills as you. This book will arm you with the tools, tactics,and strategies to play to your Executive Skills strengths. It also will show

you how to deal with your own weaknesses so that they dont get you

in trouble. And it will show you how to interact with others who have

the same strengths as well as those that are opposites.

Chapter 2 identifies the logical combinations of Executive Skills and

shows why it is difficult for you to work in a job that requires skills that

are among your weakest. We further identify the characteristics of eachof the 12 Executive Skills. This is where you find out more about your

strongest and weakest skills, which you identified in Chapter 1. This is

where you will receive a more detailed description of your own profile.

This is also where you can begin to see types of work (strategy, detail

work, troubleshooting, etc.) that might suit you best.

In Chapter 3 you learn to play to your Executive Skills strengths,

which we believe is your best approach for dealing with your ExecutiveSkills. Part of the process is to benchmark the Executive Skills strengths

required in a job, task, or situation. We provide a quick table for you to

identify the level of Executive Skill required and a place for you to com-

pare your strengths. This is where we discuss how to leverage your

strengths in team situations and in meetings. We also show you how to

interview for jobs, with the emphasis on asking questions that will show

whether the job will be a good fit for you before you pursue it.

Chapter 4 deals with your weaknesses and what to do about them.

Although we strongly recommend you play to your Executive Skills

strengths, there are methods to minimize your weaknesses, at least to

the point that they dont get in your way. We have found that what is

often perceived as poor communication can be directly traced to Execu-

tive Skills weaknesses, and we show you how to identify that. There arespecific steps to take for a weakness in each of the 12 Executive Skills,


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so this is where you take the two or three weakest skills you identified

in Chapter 1 and match them to the solution. Although the skill cannot

be appreciably changed, the problems it causes can be tackled head-on.

Chapters 5 and 6 are squarely aimed at executives and managers to

show how to manage Executive Skills in others. If you are a manager,

this is where youll see what steps should be taken to modify a behavior,

or to change a situation so the behavior is no longer an issue. If youre

not a manager, you still should read these chapters so that you will

see organizational changes that you could instigate for yourself if yoursuperior is unaware of Executive Skills and issues they cause. Chapter 6

provides a process to select the right people for the right jobs. Although

this is targeted at managers, an employee or anyone looking for another

job can gain knowledge of the matching process.

Chapter 7 is about alignment of your personal Executive Skills

strengths with those of the organization for whom you work. This is

where we match Executive Skills with specific job activities, includingmarketing, sales, customer service, and creativity. This is also where we

discuss Executive Skills alignment as a career strategy for you.

The final chapter, Chapter 8, deals with outside forces that can cause

your Executive Skills to effectively break down. We provide tactics to

deal with such issues as e-mail overload, working too many hours, and

challenging deadlines.

BackgroundMany of the strategies and tactics for identifying and dealing with Exec-

utive Skills strengths and weaknesses come from more than twenty years

of clinical work with people who have Executive Skills deficits. It is this

clinical work that led to an understanding of how Executive Skills de-

velop and how they affect learning and performance.

The strategies have been refined and modified during more than ten

years of training sessions and seminars that were conducted by two of

the authors (Peg Dawson and Richard Guare) and attended by psychol-

ogists, rehabilitation specialists, teachers, doctors, and parents. The ob-

jective of these sessions has been to reduce the impact of Executive Skills

weaknesses. In the process of conducting this training, we developed anassessment tool to help adults identify their own Executive Skills


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14 / SM AR T S

strengths and weaknesses and to understand how they can modify their

work or their work environment to better match their strengths to the

work that they do.

Throughout this book, you also will see surveys that deal with topics

ranging from specific Executive Skills to how managers deal with weak-

nesses in others. These surveys were conducted by NFI Research exclu-

sively for this book to help validate and highlight some of the issues in

the workplace specifically related to Executive Skills. NFI Research is a

U.S.-based research organization that has surveyed 2,000 senior execu-tives and managers globally every two weeks for eight years. It has

chronicled the transformation of business and countless workplace is-

sues. It was started by one of the authors (Chuck Martin) as a way to

keep in touch with executives and managers the author has addressed

in lectures throughout the world and to identify, monitor, and analyze

trends in business. Respondents were asked to write additional com-

ments, many of which have been included in the book under the head-ings Voices from the Front Lines.

Using What You HaveWe intend through this book to effectively arm you with information,

systems, processes, and templates to help you fully use your Executive

Skills. If you are a manager, we will show you how to fill in gaps ofsubordinates Executive Skills by changing the situation or the context

in which certain activities are performed. But in all cases, we will show

you how to tap into your greatest Executive Skills strengths and to best

use what youve got, which is what Smarts is all about.

For updates and comments, we invite you to visitwww.smartsthebook

.com.


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1

Taking Inventorywith the ExecutiveSkills Profile

T H E F I RS T S T EP in determining your combinations of strengths and

weaknesses is to measure each of your 12 Executive Skills. Everyone has

strengths and everyone has weaknesses in their skills. It would be ex-

tremely unusual for a person to be strong in all twelve skills, since some

are effectively opposites. There are some common combinations of

strengths and weaknesses, so that people who are strong in specific skills

are often weak in certain others, and the patterns are predictable.

Determining your strongest and weakest skill requires that you un-

derstand each of the skills and the characteristics associated with them.

Several of the Executive Skills in which you excel or fail will be obvious

to you right away. For example, you probably already know whether


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16 / SM AR T S

you are good at starting projects easily without procrastinating. Or you

might feel that you are generally flexible or inflexible.

However, the key is to understand all of your 12 Executive Skills in

relation to each other, after measuring the strength and weakness of

each. This will reveal to you combinations from which you can move

forward. You can help determine your Executive Skills strengths by an-

swering a small set of questions for each of the skills, which will high-

light your highest (strongest) and lowest (weakest) skills.

People typically have two or three strengths and two or three weak-nesses, with the remaining Executive Skills falling somewhere between.

Those that are in between are not generally likely to get you in trouble,

but those at the extremes can help you position yourself for greater

successes and fewer failures. Those that are strongest will allow you to

determine what tasks, projects, relationships, and even careers you

would find yourself comfortably matched to. Those that are weakest can

show you personal situations and even jobs and careers that you shouldavoid. In Chapters 3 and 4 we will describe how you can improve your

strongest skills and ways to work around or complement those that are

weakest.

As every executive, manager, and employee knows, it is easy to lie

on a questionnaire that is being used for self-evaluation, and the self-

assessment questions in this chapter are no exception. However, Execu-

tive Skills strengths and weaknesses are real and are imbedded in yourbrain. So answering a set of questions in a way that makes you look

strong in an Executive Skill does not make you strong in that skill, and

you most likely will know it. Additionally, there are people who delude

themselves into thinking they are good at virtually everything, and they

may tend to rate themselves high across the board. In clinical psychol-

ogy, there is a term for intentionally viewing oneself in only positive

terms in virtually every aspect across the board; it is called faking good.

A person who is faking good will have difficulty admitting weaknesses.

In answering questions there also is the rare possibility of subcon-

sciously answering positively across the board. This is called symptom

magnification. In this case, it would be called Executive Skills magnifica-

tion, if all scores are unintentionally inflated. An indication of this would

be high scores across the board when tallying the final result. Shouldyou end up with all high scores, ask someone who knows you well to


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T A K I N G I N V E N T O R Y W I T H T H E E X E C U T I V E S K I L L S P R O F I L E / 17

answer the questions about you, and then compare your answers to look

for discrepancies. (For readers who want to answer all the questions at

one time, the self-assessment questions are also listed in Appendix B in

the back of the book.)

Skill 1: Self-Restraint

Everyone knows someone who always seems to put the proverbial foot

in the mouth. This could be from a lack of Self-Restraint, the ExecutiveSkill that involves the ability to resist the urge to say or do something

while allowing time to evaluate the situation youre in and how what

you say or do might affect that situation.

This Executive Skill is about having the capacity to think before

speaking or acting. Often it is what someone says that causes you to

want to respond. It might be a discussion where your spouse casually

mentions a person who is not in the room, and you quickly blurt outthat she is a real jerk, within earshot of others who are her friends. Or it

may be your boss, who takes his golf seriously, mentioning how well he

did in his game over the weekend, and you immediately say you think

golf is such a waste of time.

If you lean to informed decision making, generally take a methodical

and deliberate approach to things, and are not often impulsive, you

probably are high in self-restraint. You also could easily suppress a re-sponse until youve thought about it.

On the other hand, if you often act on impulse, tend to say the first

thing that pops into your mind, and generally act before you consider

the consequences, you probably are low in this skill. If you can easily

remember a few things you said that you later regretted, that is a clue

that self-restraint is not one of your strongest Executive Skills. Another

clue is if you often feel like you want to kick yourself for what you just

said. If you often want to kick someone else for what they just said, they

may be low in Self-Restraint.

Another way to determine whether this skill is high or low for you is

to recall how youve acted in past situations to determine whether you

actually use this skill. For example, you would be using this skill when

you worked around the clock finishing a project for a demanding client,who then says hes not happy with your work, and you answer him


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18 / SM AR T S

without losing your temper. Or when your boss suggests a bold, new

initiative that looks good on the surface, you suggest assembling a meet-

ing to discuss the pros and cons of doing it. (There are, of course, rare

cases when that boss might say something to intentionally make you

uncomfortable just to cause a specific reaction, which is not really a Self-

Restraint issue.)

Self-Restraint Questions

Read each item below and then rate the item based on the extent towhich you agree or disagree with how well it describes you. Use the 5-

point scoring system to choose the appropriate score for each statement.

Then add the five scores for your total.

Strongly Somewhat Neither Agree Somewhat StronglyDisagree Disagree nor Disagree Agree Agree

I take my time before making up mymind 1 2 3 4 5

I see myself as tactful and diplomatic 1 2 3 4 5

I think before I speak 1 2 3 4 5

I make sure I have all the facts before Itake action 1 2 3 4 5

I seldom make comments that makepeople uncomfortable 1 2 3 4 5

Total Score

Skill 2: Working MemoryIf you never use a list to go shopping and always get what you need,

youre probably high in Working Memory. This is more than only re-

calling something from the past. Its as if your memory is always on, no

matter how busy you are or what youre doing. Working Memory in-

volves the ability to hold information in memory while performing

complex tasks. It involves drawing on past learning or experience to

apply to the situation at hand or to project into the future.

When you remember that you promised to get to your sons soccer

game at 4 p.m. in the midst of an emergency that pops up at the office

at 1 p.m. you are using the skill of Working Memory. If youre usuallyable to do one task and not lose sight of other commitments, you proba-


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bly are high in Working Memory. You also would be considered reliable,

can be counted on to follow through, and able to keep your eye on the

ball.

Youd be using this skill when you remember to return an expense

report your assistant asked for when youre working on a tight budget

deadline. Or you remember you have a dentist appointment when you

call the service station to fix your unexpected flat tire.

On the other hand, if youre sometimes absent-minded and need

frequent reminders to complete tasks, youre probably low in WorkingMemory. You would be likely to miss an appointment because you

didnt write it down, or you might leave your cell phone on your airline

seat because you were worried about making a tight connection. You

might also have forgotten that a week ago you promised to meet your

spouse for lunch today because something pressing came up at work

late this morning.

Working Memory Questions

Rate each item based on the extent to which you agree or disagree with

how well it describes you.

Strongly Somewhat Neither Agree Somewhat StronglyDisagre e Disagre e nor Disagree Agree Agree

I have a good memory for facts, dates,

and details 1 2 3 4 5I am good at remembering the thingsthat I have committed to do 1 2 3 4 5

I very naturally remember to completetasks 1 2 3 4 5

I keep sight of goals that I want toaccomplish 1 2 3 4 5

When Im busy, I keep track of both thebig picture and the details 1 2 3 4 5

Total Score

Skill 3: Emotion Control

If you can keep your emotions in check to the point that they dont get

in the way of what youre trying to do, youre probably high in EmotionControl, which is the ability to manage emotions in order to achieve


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20 / SM AR T S

goals, complete tasks, or control and direct behavior. It involves making

positive statements to yourself, suppressing negative self-statements,

and even delaying immediate gratification while you pursue more im-

portant long-term goals.

If youre high in Emotion Control, you would not be easily side-

tracked, would tend to get the job done, be unemotional and cool under

pressure, be able to resist temptations that might lead you astray, not

easily be discouraged, and be resilient in the face of setbacks. If you are

high in Emotion Control, you would tend to find something positive ina negative performance review, be able to bounce back after an emo-

tional upset, and be able to psych yourself up to make a phone call you

dread.

If youre low in Emotion Control, you can be overly emotional and

sensitive to criticism. If youre not using this skill, you might go into a

situation expecting to fail, tell yourself this is the worst presentation

youve ever done, or find yourself dwelling all day on criticism youreceived in the morning. A common sign of low Emotion Control is

having difficulty controlling anger, irritability, and frustration.

Emotion Control Questions




I can keep my emotions in check whenon the job 1 2 3 4 5

I usually handle confrontations calmly 1 2 3 4 5

Little things dont affect me emotionallyand distract me from the task at hand 1 2 3 4 5

When frustrated or angry, I keep my

cool 1 2 3 4 5I easily defer my personal feelings untilafter a task has been completed 1 2 3 4 5

Total Score

Skill 4: Focus

The Executive Skill of Focus is about having the ability to stick withsomething. It is the capacity to maintain attention to a situation or task.


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If youre high in Focus, you find it easy to stay on the task at hand,

become immersed in that task, and can screen out distractions. Even

though youre tired at the end of a day, you would rather complete that

report youre writing because you know it will be easier to finish it now

instead of beginning again the next day. You have a reputation for mak-

ing deadlines because you can stick with things. Focus is having the

capacity to maintain attention to a situation or task in spite of distrac-

tions, fatigue, or boredom.

If you have a low score in Focus, you have difficulty seeing thingsthrough to the end, and can be easily distracted. For example, someone

low in Focus might have a performance review due in less than an hour

but decide to check e-mail first. Or they might take work home to do

over the weekend but save it for Sunday night, when they get sidetracked

by a football game on television.

Focus QuestionsRate each item based on the extent to which you agree or disagree with



When I have a job to do or task tofinish, I easily avoid distractions 1 2 3 4 5

Once I start an assignment, I workdiligently until it is completed 1 2 3 4 5

I find it easy to stay focused on my work 1 2 3 4 5

Even when interrupted, I get back towork to complete the job at hand 1 2 3 4 5

I attend to a task even when I find itsomewhat tedious 1 2 3 4 5

Total Score

Skill 5: Task Initiation

If you tend to do something today rather than put it off until tomorrow,

youre probably high in Task Initiation, which is the ability to begin

tasks or projects without procrastinating. Getting started on something

would come easy for you, with an action-orientation and propensity toget the job going without undue delay, in an efficient or timely fashion.


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22 / SM AR T S

You would tend to pay your bills as soon as you receive them and imme-

diately tackle that project that is due in four weeks. You begin a task

when you promised you would and generally hit the ground running as

soon as you get to work.

If youre low in the skill of Task Initiation, you probably tend to

procrastinate and be slow getting started on projects. You might seek

that extra cup of coffee before getting down to work. You would also

frequently (and well intentionally) prefer to start something tomorrow

rather than today.

Task Initiation Questions

Rate the item based on the extent to which you agree or disagree with



Once Ive been given a job or task, I liketo start it immediately 1 2 3 4 5

Procrastination is usually not a problemfor me 1 2 3 4 5

No matter what the task, I believe ingetting started as soon as possible 1 2 3 4 5

I can get right to work even if theressomething Id rather be doing 1 2 3 4 5

I generally start tasks early 1 2 3 4 5

Total Score

Skill 6: Planning/PrioritizationIf you are high in this Executive Skill, youre well organized, efficient,

and clear thinking. You probably make a list of steps required to com-

plete a project and easily say no to a colleagues request for help if it

means you cant finish your own project thats on a tight deadline. Plan-

ning/Prioritization is the ability to create a roadmap to reach a goal.

Youre also able to decide between two courses of action based on the

potential benefits of each. Planning/Prioritization involves being able to

make decisions about whats important to focus on and whats not. It is

the ability to identify and organize the steps needed to carry out yourintentions or achieve a goal.


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If youre low in this skill, you might not be sure where to start and

be unsure of whats important, and cant seem to make plans. You tend

to drop a well-thought-out project because a great new idea just pre-

sented itself or your subordinates keep coming to you asking what they

should do next. At the end of the day, you have no clear idea of how

you will spend the next day.

Planning/Prioritization Questions

Rate the item based on the extent to which you agree or disagree withhow well it describes you.


When I start my day, I have a clear planin mind for what I hope to accomplish 1 2 3 4 5

When I have a lot to do, I focus on the

most important things 1 2 3 4 5I have formulated plans to achieve mymost important long-term goals 1 2 3 4 5

I am good at identifying priorities andsticking to them 1 2 3 4 5

I typically break big tasks down intosubtasks and timelines 1 2 3 4 5

Total Score

Skill 7: OrganizationAn easy clue to whether you are high in Organization is how well you

keep track of your belongings. If youre inclined to be neat and pay

attention to detail, you most likely are high in Organization, which is

the ability to arrange according to a system. If your desk is generally

tidy (and you naturally like it that way) and there are no piles of paper

waiting to be filed, you probably are high in Organization.

On the other hand, if you are low in Organization, you are somewhat

messy and routinely misplace or lose things. You do not maintain sys-

tems for organizing information, such as files, e-mail, or your in-box.You rely on others to find things you have misplaced.


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24 / SM AR T S

Organization Questions




I am an organized person 1 2 3 4 5

I am good at maintaining systems fororganizing my work 1 2 3 4 5

It is natural for me to keep my work

area neat and organized 1 2 3 4 5

It is easy for me to keep track of mymaterials 1 2 3 4 5

It is easy for me to organize things, suchas e-mail, in-box, and to-do items 1 2 3 4 5

Total Score

Skill 8: Time ManagementIf youre high in the Executive Skill of Time Management you tend to

be efficient, able to meet deadlines, and methodical. When someone

asks you how long it will take to complete a project you can estimate

the correct time within 90 percent accuracy. In the course of a day, you

can juggle the tasks you need to accomplish so that most get completedand those that dont are the least important. Time Management is the

capacity to estimate how much time one has, to allocate it, and to stay

within time limits and deadlines. It involves a sense that time is impor-

tant.

If you are low in Time Management, you have difficulty meeting

deadlines. The meetings you run dont start on time, run late, or often

both. At the end of the day, you realize you didnt get done half of what

you had planned because you consistently underestimated the amount

of time it took to do something.

Time Management Questions




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I pace myself according to the timedemands of a task 1 2 3 4 5

At the end of the day, Ive usuallyfinished what I set out to do 1 2 3 4 5

I am good at estimating how long ittakes to do something 1 2 3 4 5

I am usually on time for appointmentsand activities 1 2 3 4 5

I routinely set and follow a dailyschedule of activities 1 2 3 4 5

Total Score

Skill 9: Defining and Achieving GoalsIf you succeed in most of the goals you set for yourself, you probablyare high in the Executive Skill of Defining and Achieving Goals, which

is the capacity to have a goal and follow through with actions to achieve

it. You tend to be task focused, can be expected to complete tasks you

take on, and are able to achieve long-term goals. You dont let obstacles

get in your way and always keep your eye on the ball, despite efforts of

those around you to draw you into activities unrelated to what youretrying to accomplish. You have the capacity to have a goal, follow

through to the completion of the goal, and not be put off or distracted

by competing interests.

If you tend to be controlled by the present, cant focus beyond the

short term, and lose sight of objectives, you probably are low in Defining

and Achieving Goals. You typically cant say no to opportunities that

pass your way, even when they prevent you from accomplishing impor-tant goals in a timely manner. You get excited by new ideas but cant

seem to see them come to fruition.

Defining and Achieving Goals Questions




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When I encounter an obstacle, I stillachieve my goal 1 2 3 4 5

I think of myself as being driven to meetmy goals 1 2 3 4 5

I am good at achieving high levels ofperformance 1 2 3 4 5

I have a good ability to set long-termgoals 1 2 3 4 5

I easily give up immediate pleasureswhile working on long-term goals 1 2 3 4 5

Total Score

Skill 10: FlexibilityA high score in Flexibility implies you are independent, able to integrate

new information, adaptable and able to change course, and able to actautonomously. When your flight is canceled, you quickly work out al-

ternative travel arrangements. When the overnight package needed for

a meeting that day isnt delivered, you determine the best way to handle

the situation without panic. You can re-do a presentation when an asso-

ciate calls in sick at the last minute, and you can handle going back to

school because your daughter left her homework assignment there. You

have the ability to revise plans in the face of obstacles, setbacks, newinformation, or mistakes.

Flexibility is the ability to revise plans, and it relates to the amount

of adaptability one has to changing conditions. It involves the capacity

to generate an alternative plan when confronted with obstacles or new

information.

A low degree of Flexibility would make you less adaptable to change

with a lack of willingness to incorporate new information. Once youve

decided on a plan, youre not comfortable changing it or seeing alterna-

tives. You tend to panic when your car wont start because you have an

important meeting coming up, and you might get rattled when your

boss asks you to make a change in your travel plans, just after complet-

ing them with the travel agent. You are put out when someone calls

while you are washing your car or the supermarket is out of a key ingre-dient you need for a planned dinner.


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Flexibility Questions




I consider myself to be flexible andadaptive to change 1 2 3 4 5

I generally see different ways to addressor attack a problem 1 2 3 4 5

I take unexpected events in stride 1 2 3 4 5I easily can view situations from theperspective of other people 1 2 3 4 5

I think well on my feet 1 2 3 4 5

Total Score

Skill 11: ObservationIf youre self-reflective, think strategically, and are able to observe your

own actions as well as group processes impartially, you probably are

high in the skill of Observation, which is the ability to stand back and

take a birds-eye view of yourself or others in a situation and be able to

understand and make changes in how you solve problems. It is an ability

to observe how you problem-solve. It also includes self-monitoring

and self-evaluative skills, such as asking yourself, How am I doing?or How did I do? If you are high in Observation, you can figure

out multiple solutions to a problem, analyze the pros and cons, and

select the one you think will work best. You can step back and figure

out what went wrong in a failed presentation and can easily imagine the

threats and opportunities of a new business opportunity.

A low skill of Observation means you do not think through the im-

plications of decisions. You might be inclined to shoot from the hip,

miss seeing the big picture, and tend to repeat the same mistakes. You

make decisions based on what feels right and can make snap decisions

about something that has long-term consequences you never thought

of. You use the same approach to a problem even though that approach

didnt work the last three times you used it. A clue if you are low in

Observation is if people around you get annoyed with you for not beingable to see whats important.


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Observation Questions




I easily recognize when a task is a goodmatch for my skills and abilities 1 2 3 4 5

I routinely evaluate my performanceand devise methods for personalimprovement 1 2 3 4 5

I generally step back from a situation inorder to make objective decisions 1 2 3 4 5

I enjoy strategic thinking and soundproblem solving 1 2 3 4 5

I can review a situation and see where Icould have done things differently 1 2 3 4 5

Total Score

Skill 12: Stress Tolerance

If you thrive on the subjective feeling of stress and maintain control in

pressure situations, you probably are high in Stress Tolerance, which is

the ability to thrive in stressful situations and to cope with uncertainty,

change, and performance demands.

You would have a high tolerance for ambiguity and be emotionally

steady in a crisis. You can handle a deadline being moved up and even

welcome the challenge of working through the night to finish it. Your

three children all have events the same evening and you take in stride

that you have to get them to different locations on time.

A low level of Stress Tolerance would make you emotionally stressed

in a crisis. You only feel comfortable when you know your schedule forthe next few weeks. If you make an error in a presentation you are likely

to obsess about it for days. You get angry when the boss asks you to divert

from your current task in favor of another, or when your spouse asks you

stop at a store on the way home just when you got on the highway.

Stress Tolerance Questions

Rate each item based on the extent to which you agree or disagree withhow well it describes you.


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I enjoy working in a highly demanding,

fast-paced environment 1 2 3 4 5

Pressure helps me perform at my best 1 2 3 4 5

Jobs that include a fair degree ofunpredictability appeal to me 1 2 3 4 5

I am comfortable taking risks when thesituation calls for it 1 2 3 4 5

I like jobs where there are not many set

schedules 1 2 3 4 5Total Score

Your Unique Set of Executive SkillsAfter youve finished this chapter and answered all the questions, go back

and find your two or three highest and the two or three lowest scores.

Those will be your strongest and weakest Executive Skills. The answers to

the self-assessment provide your unique set of Executive Skills strengths

and weaknesses. Your strengths and weaknesses are in relation to each

other. So if you scored, for example, an 18 in Observation and someone

you know scored a 15 in that same skill, they cannot necessarily be com-

pared to each other. It does not necessarily mean that the other person is

weaker than you in that particular skill. The strengths and weaknesses of

you and another person can be compared, but not the absolute scores.

So your score of 18 must be viewed in relation to the other Executive

Skills scores within your set of answers. So if 18 is your lowest score, that

would be one of your lowest skills. The other persons 15 might be their

lowest skill, or perhaps not, depending on their other scores. If by chance

all of your scores are relatively high, which is possible, you should identify

the lowest individual answers to specific questions. It is likely that the spe-

cific Executive Skills in which you have the lowest answers are, in fact, yourweakest skills.

Once you know your strongest and weakest skills, you can focus on just

those skills for much of the remainder of this book, since those will be the

only skills needing attention. More likely, you will start to match certain

characteristics of strengths and weakness to those around you. The next

step is to analyze your combination of skills and determine how much

effort is associated with tasks that play to your strengths and weaknesses,which we discuss in Chapter 2.


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2

Combinations of

Executive Skills and

the Effortful Task

O NCE YO U UNDE RS TAND your personal combinations of Executive

Skills, you can tweak aspects of your current job and better plan future

career moves and potentially new directions. With each skill there are

certain characteristics or tendencies you can identify based on your

highest and lowest Executive Skills. The combination of your strongest

and weakest Executive Skills present the most opportunity.

At the least, knowing your own combination also can show you how

much work you will feel like youre doing when dealing with certain

tasks. Although it might be obvious to you that certain things seem

easier for some people and more difficult for others, until now you

might not have understood why. It is because the strengths in a personsExecutive Skills that best match those skills needed for a certain task can


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make that task feel more natural for that person to perform. So if a task

requires certain skills that play to your Executive Skills strengths, the

task takes less effort for you. Conversely, if the task requires certain skills

that are among your weakest, then you will find that it takes consider-

ably more effort. As a result, the same task that requires your strengths

would take considerably more effort for someone who is low in the

same Executive Skills.

An effortful task is one that requires skills that are your weakest Exec-

utive Skills. The task is still doable, but at a higher amount of effort anddifficulty. It also is not the best positioning for you long term, as we

discuss later, since you should be trying to play to your strengths in

Executive Skills.

A task that is not an effortful task is one that plays to your Executive

Skills strengths, making it easier for you to accomplish. For example, if

you are high in Time Management, it is easier for you to remember to

get to a meeting on time than it is for someone who is low in that skill.And if you are low in Working Memory, it is tougher for you to remem-

ber directions while driving on a business trip than for someone who is

high in Working Memory, for whom it almost seems like second nature.

Its not that the person cant get to a meeting on time, but it will take

more effort for them to manage it. And if you are low in Working

Memory, you still can find your way somewhere, it just takes more effort

and concentration on your part. You may even find yourself turning offthe radio so you can better concentrate on finding your way. It is an

effortful task.

When youre under a lot of pressure at work or are fatigued for

whatever reason, it will be the effortful task that will become signifi-

cantly harder to do or will fall apart altogether. So if youre low in the

Executive Skill of Self-Restraint, when under pressure you will tend to

say things that you are likely to regret later. And if you are low in the

skill of Task Initiation, you are likely to find yourself procrastinating in

more tasks, even perhaps to the point of freezing the forward motion of

anything of import. You might even get so frustrated that you decide to

put off the task till tomorrow.

Its natural to gravitate to tasks that are not effortful or at least of

lower effort, which explains why people drift to certain things at workand at home. Paying the bills on a regular schedule would be much


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easier for someone who is high in Organization, and starting a lengthy

report would be easier for someone high in Task Initiation. Through

childhood, as Executive Skills are fully developing, children tend to most

use those skills that come easiest. This trend continues, so that by adult-

hood, when Executive Skills are fixed, the strongest skills tend to be

those that have been exercised the most, essentially making them even

greater strengths.

If you strive to get yourself into situations that leverage your strong-

est combinations of Executive Skills, you will have not only a higherchance of success, but the tasks you perform will be easier for you, since

they will not be effortful tasks, which we discuss in more detail later in

this chapter as well as in Chapter 3.

What Your Strengths Look LikeSince your Executive Skills strengths are unique, you can look at yoursand see the behaviors that typically go with those skills. For example, if

your highest skills are Emotion Control and Stress Tolerance, you would

likely be able to get the job done, be unemotional and cool under pres-

sure, able to resist temptations, resilient in the face of setbacks, not

easily discouraged or sidetracked, able to maintain control in pressure

situations, have a high tolerance for ambiguity, and be emotionally

steady in a crisis. Following are the characteristics associated with Exec-

utive Skills strengths. Although you can identify your potential behav-

iors based on those skills, you also will start to notice the strengths of

others. You can also now identify the likely traits behind some of their

behaviors.

HIGH IN SELF-RESTRAINT

Characteristics: Informed decision making, methodical and deliberate

approach, avoids impulsivity.

You decide to delay commenting on your bosss new idea

You tell a client youll get her a price quote after you gather

more information rather than just providing a price on the spot,which may be based on incomplete information


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Your teenage daughter calls for permission to stay out an extra

two hours and you tell her youll call her back after discussing it

with your spouse

Scenario: The Self-Restrained Manager

Robert would never shoot his mouth off without thinking. When

he was a teenager, he never got in trouble with teachers and never

lost after-school jobs for telling his supervisor what was on his mind

without thinking through the consequences. When entering the

full-time workforce after graduating, this pattern continued. Robertnaturally used space-filler comments to stall for time, s

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